Celebrate Other Italian Explorers, Too

The Oct. 9 op-ed "Efforts To Abolish Columbus Day Wrong" made some very good points. The epic crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by Christopher Columbus -- and the crew of highly skilled captains, pilots and sailors -- opened the Western Hemisphere to European colonization and changed the course of history.

In my opinion, other Italian navigators and explorers should also be remembered, in particular Giovanni Caboto and Giovanni da Verrazzano, who also had to hire themselves out to foreign monarchs.